I Just Made Laundry Soap

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for some time now and I finally got it worked into my schedule. Actually, as usually happens, I woke up this morning thinking I’m going to make it today.

I have a hard time sleeping past 3 or 4 am so when I get up I’m alone and can get into all sorts of things. :)

The materials were all sitting altogether in their own little pile patiently waiting for me to get around to them and I just took them all towards the kitchen and began making detergent.

I found this recipe on Tip Nut awhile back and wrote down recipe #1 on a post-it note and attached it to one of the boxes of materials for future use. I used Fels-Naptha because the name just sounds old-timey and exotic…plus I know from personal experience that it works real well at getting out tough stains. Anyway, it took one half of the bar to get one cup because I cut the recipe in half and still ended up with a lot of detergent.

Today…Tuesday…is my laundry day and so I’m using it now. I wanted to have some of my regular detergent in case this stuff didn’t work but it is cleaning our clothes quite nicely. I’m currently using a concentrate I bought at CostCo. When I figured the cost of materials to make my own vs. the CostCo product the total cost per load of laundry using my own detergent is slightly less than CostCo brand. But compared to what you pay for laundry detergent at say WalMart and other stores making my own is cost effective. In the future, I plan on experimenting with other bars of soap etc to see if I can get the cost down.

Several factors that appeal to me about making my own is that the laundry washes out clean (does not leave any residue), is a lot more environmentally safe than many commercial detergents, and so far is cost effective. I have read about how stubborn stains come out easier than with commercial brands but honestly…Fels-Naptha…if used according to directions…gets greasy and oily spots out as well. Also, I like the idea of somehow connecting with the old ways of doing things…so making my own will probably become a regular routine for me.